The subject matter disclosed herein relates to gas turbine engines.
Gas turbine engines are used in a wide variety of applications, such as power generation, aircraft, and various machinery. Gas turbine engines generally combust a fuel with an oxidant (e.g., air) in a combustor section to generate hot combustion products, which then drive one or more turbine stages of a turbine section. The turbine stages, when driven by the hot combustion products, create torque to drive a shaft. The rotating shaft, in turn, drives one or more compressor stages of a compressor section, and can also drive an electrical generator to produce electrical energy.
Compressor sections can include, as an example, wheels attached to the rotatable shaft of the gas turbine system. The wheels may be attached to airfoils that, when rotated with the wheels, act upon and compress a working fluid. These airfoils may be subjected to various mechanical and environmental stresses, such as the pressure and heat generated from compression of the working fluid, as well as water condensation that occurs during the compression. The operating life of the airfoils may at least partially depend on their ability to withstand these mechanical and environmental stresses.